I (Julie) love when God surprises me with an unexpected
beautiful moment and He prompts me to slow down and savor the moment. During the summer, we can get so busy with
the logistics of having so many mission teams in a short period of time that we
don’t get to see the normal programming that is happening each day. We were purchasing all of the food we needed
for the soccer week day camp and delivering it to the community center. I was pretty focused on getting the supplies
into the kitchen but as we walked past the palapa I saw Maria….standing up in
front of 31 other mom’s reading a Bible.
The sight of her reading made me stop what I was doing because a year
and a half ago she admitted to one of our tutors that she couldn’t read very
well and wanted to sit in on her children’s tutor time so she could get better
at reading. I paused for a moment and
then went back to work unloading the food from the van. But God had more for me to see that day….more
than just the tasks that I had planned.
Ximena, our Tres Reyes Program Manager, came to me to ask if I could
help pass out Bibles to the women who have been coming to the weekly Bible
Study. The team from Ohio brought the
Bibles down for us from the US office but I couldn’t remember how many we ordered
or if we’d have enough for everyone.
While Ximena & I were moving the Bibles out to the palapa I was
praying that we’d have enough for every woman.
We got a great discount on the Woman’s Devotional Bible in Spanish and
Elizabeth who is the Psychologist, and also teaches the Mom’s Bible study,
wanted to make sure each woman had her own Bible. She was very excited about the devotionals
that the women could read on their own within the Bible. Elizabeth’s enthusiasm rubbed off on the
women and they eagerly came to the front table to receive their own Bible. The women hugged us and were so
grateful. They took the Bible and were
clinging to it. That visual picture will
stay with me, and I remember thinking….this is why you brought me here today
God…..for this moment. For me to see how
hungry the women are for the WORD of the LORD.
Every woman got a Bible that day all 32 of them. We didn’t have any extra, but we had just enough!
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| 32 women with their new Women's Devotional Bibles |
For me (Erick), it was a Saturday Bible class with the teens
that stopped me in my tracks. When mission teams are here, they typically sit
in and help with the Bible classes on Saturdays. And during this time, I usually
move around from class to class to observe. On this particular Saturday, one of
the teachers invited Julie and I to come to the first part of her class to see
three of the teens play their recorders. It was cool to see their pride and
confidence as they played and the other 12+ teens watched and listened. But
that wasn’t the best part of the class. The lesson for the day was from 1
Corinthians 12:4-29 where Paul is telling of the importance of all parts of the
body of Christ. Each member of the body has a unique and valuable role. The
teens took turns reading various verses, and when one stumbled on a word,
another would help him. I loved seeing that grace and kindness. When they
finished reading the verses their assignment was to choose a part of the body,
draw it, cut it out, and place it on the Cuerpo de Cristo (Body of Christ).
Each teen took the next 15 minutes or so creating their own version of the
eyes, the nose, the hands, the feet, the head, the arms, the legs, etc. These
human body parts represented their part in the Body of Christ. As they
completed their part, they each went up and taped it to the body. As you can
see in the picture, their individual renderings of their significant part made
for a very unique looking body. And that is the point. They are each unique. And
together they each have an important function to play in the Cuerpo de Cristo.
After everyone had taped up their part, they each went up and signed their name
by their body part, creating a sense of ownership and responsibility for their
specific part of this beautiful body. When I went up to sign my name by my part
(the intestines), I was moved by the idea that 15 teenagers, Mexican and
American, all shared the responsibility of creating this body. And each of them
has a duty and privilege to use their unique gifts and talents for the glory of
God and for the good of His Kingdom. On this day, we were literally His Hands,
His Feet, His Eyes, His Legs, His Arms, and even His intestines. Tears were
streaming down my face as I watched these teens, worshiped their Creator, and
prayed for their futures.  |
| Teen Bible class in Tres Reyes with mission team members from Ohio The video below is one of the Mom's saying her Bible memory verse. |
